Continuing their theme of scoring for fun in pre-season, Benfica had already put five unanswered goals past Farense and struck twice in a four-goal stalemate with Celta Vigo before an affair with Almeria on Sunday, where Schmidt’s men surprisingly found themselves a goal down inside 23 minutes.
However, Nicolas Melamed‘s opener would not be a sign of things to come for the Spanish side, as Vangelis Pavlidis, Arthur Cabral and Joan Mario responded emphatically for Benfica, ensuring that the Portuguese giants would retain their unbeaten pre-season record.
Across all matches competitive and non-competitive, the Eagles have now strung together a respectable five-match unbeaten sequence after a mixed end to the 2023-24 Primeira Liga campaign, in which they ceded the title to Ruben Amorim‘s Sporting Lisbon.
Now coming towards the end of their pre-season preparations, Benfica host Feyenoord in the latest edition of the friendly Eusebio Cup – in which they are the defending champions – three days after welcoming Brentford to the Estadio da Luz.
The Bees are one of two Premier League-based opponents that Schmidt’s men will take on in their exhibition period, as Fulham will attempt to deny them a 10th Algarve Cup title on August 2, eight days before their Primeira Liga opener away to Famalicao.
Ahead of this avian battle between the Eagles and the Bees, the Wombles of Wimbledon felt the full force of Brentford’s sting at Plough Lane on July 20, where Frank’s men convincingly won a seven-goal spectacular thanks in no small part to one of their new recruits.
As was the case with Benfica against Almeria, Brentford also conceded first – letting Joe Lewis break the deadlock with just three minutes gone – but a debut brace from recently-signed striker Igor Thiago triggered an emphatic fightback.
STREAM LINKS >>> Stream 1 Stream 2 Stream 3
Yoane Wissa, Kevin Schade and Bryan Mbeumo also made the net bulge for the Bees before Wimbledon’s Archie Stevens made the scoreline slightly less humiliating, and Frank was particularly pleased with seeing four different attackers get on the friendly scoresheet.
Now gearing up for their first of two contests in a Portuguese double-header, Brentford face a less daunting fixture against Estrela da Amadora five days after battling Benfica, which precedes two final friendlies on British soil.
Watford (August 3) and Wolfsburg (August 9) will provide the final tests of Brentford’s exhibition mettle, before the Bees once again begin a new Premier League season with a London derby, hosting Crystal Palace in the middle of next month.
